The New-Age Confederacy: The Rise of Trump and the Endorsement of Roy Moore

The launch of a Rogue Campaign

In June 2015, Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency and instantly, his presidential campaign became situation comedy, a big-ticket, late-night TV sitcom. His campaign became a global catastrophe, spreading to countries far and foreign and ultimately, neutralizing America’s worth and esteem. At the start of his campaign, he acquired a fan club consisting of apolitical jokers. Many jumped on board to mock politics as casual sport. The conversations went a lot like this: “Hey, you wouldn’t believe it, but Donald Trump is running for president. Holy shit. This is remarkable. This is so remarkable that I think I’m going to vote for him.”

Too Much Support from Extremists

His campaign was an unprecedented form of entertainment in America, but to the rest of the world, America was laughing-stock. The emerging realm of political comedy was an advantage for Trump, as he gained more political traction, positioning himself as an iconic business man, vowing to “Make America Great Again” with a subtle undertone to purge the government of its constitutionally instilled democracy, and put in place principles that would benefit the elite. The apolitical-joker fan base would then expand, which meant for Trump that he would recruit a more publicly condemned, radical constituency— right-wing evangelicals, Klansmen, Neo-Nazis. This is dangerous because Trump endorses radical conservatives like Roy Moore, even though many GOP counterparts denounce him. Moore is Trump’s ally, because he knows that Trump will ensure America’s commitment to Christian doctrine. Radical conservatives elected as officials of congress are bad for the civil liberties and freedoms of minority groups. They argue that their role in government is to protect the religious freedom of Christians, but what it really means is that minorities will be institutionally stripped of theirs. White supremacists like David Duke and Richard Spencer are another example. And whether Trump publicly condemns them or not (which he later did, but only after extensive briefing from his white house staff), this sends a clear message to the world, that there is something intrinsically wrong with a president who is able to conjure up so much vitriolic support.

The United States Demagogue is Disguised as an Innocent Business Man

Trumps branding as a high-profile business man helped energize his political agenda. He insisted that he would be the solution to politics, unlike the “flaky” politicians he was competing against. This created a prolific platform. But Trump is a demagogue. He uses his power to gain support through the use and display of prejudices, stereotypes and false claims that are based on emotion rather than factuality and reason. He has spread false claims about the Muslim community, Mexicans, the media (which he wishes to censor), the former FBI director, Hillary Clinton, and former President Barack Obama, who he aggressively claimed was not an American.

He’s heavily idolized by primarily white Bible-thumping southerners, some who are just subconsciously mislead by media bias and word-of-mouth and others who are consciously aware of their actions and thoughts—who, in public, smile and greet black people in kindness, but in private company of family and friends, casually refer to black people as N****, support segregation, and wish to subjugate minority groups to the lowest level of American hierarchy. All people, at some point, are likely to have some prejudice or stereotypical thoughts drift through the mind, but people aren’t inherently this way. You aren’t born believing that all Muslims are part of terrorist organizations, or that gay people are perverts, or that all black people are thugs. You adopt these stereotypes of people through media and television and then have them reinforced by society. If you’re able to acknowledge that these perceptions of people are not fact, you’re not the problem. Unfortunately, many people don’t do this. This is a true dilemma. There is a sequence to how these thoughts are dangerous: A stereotype leads to being prejudice, and being prejudice leads to discrimination, and discrimination creates inequality. This is important to understand how this administration is dangerous.

This president largely appeals to the intolerant, those who wish to impose the old laws of former confederate states. This means that Trump is a detriment to America, and that we have politically regressed. This must be stopped, because we cannot take up the outdated ways of the 1800s. This administration has hardened a nation once commended for its diplomacy and ability to build relations with the world and people. There’s no true dialogue about a course of action to rid social and economic inequalities and to replace division with unity, the unity that the majority of citizens wish for. Instead, Trump spreads propaganda that reels in the support of a segment of very angry and afflicted homophobes and racists, and brings them out of hiding, as they now feel they’re backed by the administration. Trump then reiterates their intolerant views in less obvious wording, and then he is praised for refraining from so-called “political correctness”.

Trump’s Political Endorsement of Roy Moore Signals the Support of a New-Age Confederacy

You may hear something like this: “Well, Trump can’t help who comes out in support of him, even if those supporters are from extremist groups.” Technically, he can’t force support and couldn’t have forced a vote (unless he illegally stole them, which was and still is in question). However, he can adjust influence of people and freely choose which candidates to endorse and that speaks volumes. He is known to endorse candidates with extreme confederate views like Moore—for instance, who believes that the legalization of gay marriage is worse than the Supreme Court ruling in the Dred Scott case that denied freedom to African-Americans. He also made this statement when he was asked when was America last great:

“I think it was great at a time when families were united, even though we had slavery, they cared for one another. People were strong in the families. Our families were strong, our country had a direction, and we corrected many of the problems.”

There’s a discrete assimilation between the slogan “Make America Great Again” and slavery. Moore referenced family as an imperative component of America’s greatness, which is not the problem, but the fact that he mentioned slavery within the same statement illuminates that he clearly admires the very old-fashioned ways of the 1800s and the late Jim Crow years. A public official, running for office, in his right mind, would not talk about family in association to slavery and express that those were greater times for America than the subsequent progressive era that corrected extreme injustice, unless you’re trying to gain the attention of some very radical Klansmen and backers of the confederacy. He could’ve spoke of the fundamental importance of family in absence of slavery. The statement works fine without the slavery reference:

“I think it was great at a time when families were united.. they cared for one another. People were strong in the families. Our families were strong, our country had a direction, and we corrected many of the problems.”

With this, it’s not evident which time he’s referring to. One can only wonder and speculate, but with the original statement, there’s no need to speculate. It’s clearly written. I’ve side tracked from the main point of this article to further depict the direction our society is headed in. Trumps endorsement of a candidate like Moore in 2017 indicates his plan for America, and all he can say is, “We don’t wan’t to have a liberal Democrat in Alabama… We want strong borders, we want stopping crime…” He prefers a radical fundamentalist and alleged perpetrator of sexual misconduct with minors who wishes to reverse time back to colonialism and Jim Crow, when the “families were strong”. And this is when the confederacy worshippers and Christian fundamentalists chant “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump endorses and approves of people like Moore, who will do everything within their power to pass legislation that embodies the conservative evangelists’ Islamophobic, homophobic, and racist views. If you think that’s impossible, think again. Just as governments have given stupendous tax cuts to multimillion-dollar corporations through system loopholes, it can also create them to subliminally discriminate against already vulnerable minorities. This president has numerously compartmentalized a whole group of people, labeled them as a threat, and aimed to pass legislation that discriminates against them. This only creates more societal discord and instability. If Moore wins the senate seat in Alabama, Trump will use him as leverage to further his oppressive policies, which I see as the New-Age Confederacy.